How low can you go? Swimming in the Norwegian winter

I am sponsored by HUUB and Ulvang, which products are used in my «How low can you go» swimming in cold temperature project.

The cold is nothing I enjoy. I hate freezing and I hate the feeling of submerging myself in water colder than 28 degrees. With my skinny body I actually got cold on Hawaii, if I did not swim properly.

Why then, do I want to find out how cold water is possible for me to swim in??? That is a good question, which I have asked myself many times. Testing my own boundaries is something that intrigues me. It can give valuable information about what works and what don’t, which can serve both me and others.

Today I swam 10 minutes and 50 seconds in 3 degrees water with about minus1-degree air temperature. That went better than feared and I could have been swimming longer. The weakest link was my fingers, which went from being numb to start hurting. The HUUB gloves are not made for that low temperatures so with thicker gloves, it would have abled me to stay in considerably longer. With a pair of wool sock inside the neoprene socks I actually believe that I could have stayed in for a whole hour. With a semi-thick wool shirt under and one HUUB Balaclava with two HUUB Scull caps over the rest of the body felt rather ok.

Support is always appreciated, and necessary for safety when trying out the cold water swim. Jonas was ready to jump out and save me 😉Covering my neck properly is very important. I used fingerless gloves under my neoprene gloves, but I should have gone for longer and thicker wool gloves. My race suit is HUUB Albacore, but now I use the HUUB Aegis 2 thermal, a wetsuit with thicker lining providing more insulation.Getting readyGetting ready part two 😉This picture explains why I got initially got a brain freeze out of this world :p I will pull the Balaclava and skull caps further down next time.This does not feel to bad actually.Having some warm and very easy too put on clothing is also highly recommended. And someone to help you with that as well since the fingers become nearly 100 % numb :p

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triallan

I am a 32 year old PRO triatlete. My goal is to swim, bike and run as fast as possible, and enjoy the journey. All my adventures and triathlon related stuff is well documented on this blog.
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